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Flagship
This term refers to the status of a starship in many naval fleets, including Starfleet. Commodores and admirals are referred to as "flag" officers. This is an historical term dating back to older navies when these officers had associated with them a specific flag representing their command. When the commodore or admiral would take command of either a task force (usually a small group of two or more ships) or a fleet of ships, he would chose one of the ships to serve as his seat of command. The chosen ship would then fly his personal flag representing his command. That ship would then be referred to as the "flagship" of the task force or fleet that was assigned to the flag officer. Generally, the flag officer would choose the largest ship given him as his flagship but this is not necesarily the case (it is also a matter of his personal discretion which ship he chooses). However, the flag officer is usually constrained to choose a ship that is large enough to accommodate his command staff, so this usually means that he has to choose one of the larger ships given him that has the necessary spare command space (similar to office space but with command, control, and communications facilities) and billeting capability. In all cases, if the flag officer moves his command headquarters to another ship (for example: if the ship he is on gets damaged in battle), his flag always accompanies him, thus making the new ship to fly his flag the new "flagship" of the task force or fleet over which he has command. Normally a flag officer assigned to take command of a group of ships does not displace the captain of the flagship itself (the existing captain retains in command of the ship). However, in those cases where a flag officer may be given direct charge of a ship as its captain (not entirely uncommon for some larger capital ships), it is unclear as to whether that single ship is designated a flagship or not. It is also possible for a flag officer to be assigned to be the captain of a single ship (again usually a large capital ship) but where the ship is also a part of a task force or fleet of ships. In these cases, the ship designated as the flagship of the group (and flying the flag of the commanding task force or fleet commander) is the one with the commander of the group of ships rather then the ship being captained by the indivual flag officer. Historically, some variations on command arrangements for groups of ships has also been possible. The Starfleet command rank of Fleet Captain was a captain that had, or could have, command of more than a single ship. This rank is similar to some historic types of commodores of the past except that a Fleet Captain is not considered a flag officer, and therefore would not in itself create a flagship for the group. The term "flagship" can also refer to the most important ship in the fleet at any given time. During her lifetime, the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) was considered the flagship of Starfleet, even though she was not commanded by any admiral. Known flagships First Federation * Fesarius Federation Starfleet *[[USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D)|USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D)]] (destroyed 2371) *USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-E) (active 2379) Klingon Empire *[[IKS Kronos One|IKS Kronos One]] *[[IKS Bortas|IKS Bortas (Vor'cha-class)]] *[[IKS Negh'Var|IKS Negh'Var]] Romulan Star Empire *[[IRW D'ridthau|IRW D'ridthau]] (destroyed 2375) *''The unnamed Romulan Bird-of-Prey in "Balance of Terror" was described as being a flagship.'' de:Flaggschiff nl:Vlaggenschip